Verdict: Despite people’s expectations, POCO’s X3 NFC isn’t the clear winner in the camera matchup with the Realme 6. The POCO X3 NFC tweaks colors and exposure to make photos pop, but it feels an artificial compared to the more natural shots taken with the Realme 6. The POCO X3 NFC does rule supreme in low-light shooting though overall we prefer the images taken with the Realme 6.
We’re back for another round of comparisons for the POCO X3 NFC and the Realme 6, and today we’ll be taking a look at the two phone’s cameras. Both phones are armed with quad-camera sensors, and the main cameras for both have the same resolution and roughly the same aperture opening. But that doesn’t guarantee that image quality for both will be the same – image processing, as well as software tweaks, will play a big part in the final image, and you’ll see below how both brands differ in both.
Before we start, you might want to take a look at part one of our comparison article here, where we compare the hardware on both phones.
Starting off with the main camera, both phones have roughly equivalent main shooters with similar megapixel counts: the POCO X3 NFC has a 64-megapixel Sony IMX 682 main shooter with an f/1.89 aperture lens, while the Realme 6 has a 64-megapixel f/1.8 ISOCELL Bright GW1 main camera. But despite that both phones handle images taken from their main cameras very differently, as shown in the first two images below:
These first two photos show how both phones process the same image, and it’s clear that the POCO X3 NFC artificially boosts both contrast and saturation to produce a more vivid image. The Realme 6 produces photos that are more color accurate, though at the sake of looking a little duller when put side by side with the POCO X3 NFC.
Lea’s portrait looks nicer on the Realme 6 VS the POCO X3 NFC, with more even exposure across the board.
The POCO X3 NFC has a higher resolution 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera VS the 8-megapixel ultra-wide snapper of the Realme 6. Just like before the POCO X3 NFC’s camera software has a tendency to boost color and saturation for a photo that pops more. Unfortunately, the Realme 6’s 8-megapixel shooter does look a little worse here when directly compared to the POCO X3 NFC’s, simply because it has a lower resolution compared to the 13-megapixel snapper of the POCO X3 NFC.
This photo really shows off the downsides of the POCO X3 NFC’s main camera. The Realme 6’s main shooter exposes the image better despite having that strong contrast along the wall, giving you a fairly better-balanced photo VS the POCO X3 NFC.
Both phones pack similar 2-megapixel macro lens, and even in these close-up shots you can see how much the POCO X3 NFC boosts colors to make the image pop more VS the Realme 6. Personally we prefer the more balanced, less saturated version of the photo.
Selfies are pretty much a tie, with the portrait selfie mode on both phones correctly isolating and blurring out Jamie’s background. The POCO X3 NFC has a 20-megapixel selfie camera VS the Realme 6 which has a 16-megapixel selfie shooter.
Night shots are where the POCO X3 NFC wins clearly VS the Realme 6. Shots taken with POCO’s phone looks brighter and has less noise overall VS the Realme 6.
So, which phone are you buying? Head on over to our individual reviews of both phones below:
Realme 6 and Realme 6 Pro Review: 90Hz Displays For The Masses
